As far as I’m concerned, one of the best things about the holidays is the food! I love the variety of appetizers we generally serve on Christmas Eve, the big turkey dinner with all the fixing on Christmas Day and, of course, the endless array of tasty and decadent desserts! I’m notorious for going overboard on holiday baking and when I want to whip up some tasty treats for Christmas, I turn to baking gear from Trudeau to get perfect results every time!

I’ve only recently discovered Trudeau kitchen gear and already it’s become a staple in my household. From silicone spatulas and whisks to high-quality cake pans and decorating pens, this gear makes whipping up dozens of different recipes easy! Wondering which items will be most useful for helping you get through your holiday baking? These are my top Trudeau products for three popular types of holiday treats:

Cookies – Silicone Baking Sheet Liner

If you’ve ever had your cookies come out of the oven with blackened bottoms or had cookies stick to your cookie sheets, you’ll love this handy silicone liner. It can be used unfolded on large trays or folded in half for smaller cookie sheets. And not only does the silicone mean that there’s no need to grease pans and no risk of sticking, the liner also results in perfect, evenly cooked cookies without overly browned bottoms! [Read more…]

I love cooking up special treats for special occasions, and with Canada Day coming up so quickly, I couldn’t resist making something tasty to celebrate our country! The Kraft Canada website is always a go-to resource for me when I want delicious Canada Day recipes and its Jell-O based Flag Cake is a treat I’ve made many years in the past. But this year I decided to switch things up a bit and make cupcakes instead! To keep with the theme, I used Red Velvet cake mix and a tasty cream cheese frosting.

Valentine’s Day is just a week away and nothing makes the celebration of love more special than some sweet and delicious desserts and candies! Check out these six tasty ideas and treat your loved ones to a little extra sugar! [Read more…]

I love animals and ever since I was a child there has almost always been one in my house. I went from being a devoted dog lover to completely cat obsessed, but having a pet is just a way of life for me. And with very few exceptions, our pets were always adopted from the Regina Humane Society. I am a huge believer in the work that SPCAs and Human Societies do to ensure that pets find loving homes and I honestly can’t understand why anyone would spend hundreds of dollars buying a certain breed of animal when there are so many amazing pets in need of loving homes already. Raising awareness and funds to care for those animals is a cause I support, and that’s why I’m so excited about National Cupcake Day!

For the second year in a row, the SPCAs and Humane Societies of Canada are hosting a National Cupcake Day fundraiser on February 24, 2014. And this year, Anna Olson, celebrity chef and host of Food Network Canada’s Bake with Anna Olson, is joining the party as a Cupcake Crusader. A long-time supporter of animals and the SPCA, Olson has created an original cupcake recipe for this year’s event. Her Banana Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting recipe can be found at www.nationalcupcakeday.ca!

To help me join in the fun, the sponsors of National Cupcake Day sent me a beautiful cupcake gift basket so I decided to show my support for the cause by whipping up a batch of cupcakes myself. The basket included the Taste of Home Bakeshop Favourites cookbook and I created a variation of one of the recipes included in the book to make these tasty Chai Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting! [Read more…]

One of my favourite things about summer is always the food. Fresh fruits and vegetables, sizzling chicken and steak cooked on the barbeque, creamy, dreamy frozen desserts…who could resist that? And part of that summer eating for me always means checking out the new treats in the President’s Choice Summer Insider’s Report. I received some treats to test out for myself and I couldn’t wait to dig in.

The first thing that caught my eye was the Loads Of Jalapeno Popper Ripple Chips. While the chips sounded a little too spicy for my taste, my husband was only too happy to test them out and he proclaimed them irresistible. The combination of spicy jalapeno and mellow cheddar cheese flavour blended together beautifully in these flavour-packed chips.

My boys, on the other hand, were immediately drawn to the Milk Chocolate Covered Crunchy Peanut Butter Clusters. These crunchy peanut butter candy centres covered in milk chocolate were so tasty and it didn’t take long before we polished off the entire bag. [Read more…]

My boys love to cook with me but using my big, bulky cooking tools isn’t always easy for their little hands. And while they’re happy to help make almost any food item, they especially love cooking fun foods! In 2010, I reviewed the adorable Toy Story 3 Tasty Baker from Pop Art Toaster, a clever little kitchen appliance that made bite-sized cakes, brownies, pancakes and biscuits in the shape of some of the most popular characters from Toy Story 3. This year, I was given the chance to review the 5-in-1 Tasty Baker with Junior Chef Baking Set, which contained the original Tasty Baker and a 15-piece kids cooking set. I was so excited to give my boys the chance to cook with tools that had actually been made for them.

We usually used our other Tasty Baker to make pancakes for breakfast so for a change of pace we decided to make vanilla cupcakes for an afternoon treat with the original Tasty Baker. I loved that the Junior Chef Baking Set had all of the necessary baking tools for making the batter in a handy kid-friendly size. Zackary got himself outfitted in the apron and oven mitt and we were ready to whip up our batter. [Read more…]